


Long Exposure

by HardNoctLife



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Husbands, Kissing, Late at Night, M/M, Multi, OT4, Photography, Polyamory, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28652850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardNoctLife/pseuds/HardNoctLife
Summary: Noctis resents being dragged from his soft, cozy bed in the middle of the night to pile into the Regalia and go who-knows-where.Prompto promises it will be worth it.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 12
Kudos: 70





	Long Exposure

**Author's Note:**

> A long exposure is an image that has been exposed for a long time or uses a long shutter speed. This technique is useful for shooting still objects in low light (used often by landscape photographers), or rendering moving objects into an artistic blur.

It’s cold as hell outside ( _yes, he knows hell is technically hot, the statement stands_ ), and Noctis resents being dragged from his soft, cozy bed in the middle of the night to pile into the Regalia. He resents it even more when he slides into the back seat to find its leather is only slightly warmer than a freezer.

“W-w-what—are—w-we—d-d-doing?” Noctis’s teeth chatter, and any energy he would usually devote to glaring at Prompto, the mastermind behind this midnight adventure, is diverted into keeping himself warm; that is until Gladio throws an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in tight.

“Stop being such a baby,” Gladio chides, tossing him a pair of fingerless gloves and ear muffs shaped like cat ears. Noctis sighs as he puts them on, melting into the warmth of Gladio’s body heat before tugging his puffy coat more tightly around himself. Meanwhile, Ignis puts the keys in the ignition, muttering something about seatbelts that goes ignored.

“I promise it will be worth it,” Prompto says as he bounces into the front seat. Noctis highly doubts it, but is too tired to argue.

He curls as close to Gladio as possible, sticking his frozen fingers in the waistband of Gladio’s pants to warm them (which is met with a grunt of irritation), and closes his eyes.

The sway of the car lulls him quickly back to sleep.

* * *

“Noct, wake up, buddy! We’re here!”

“Five more minutes,” Noctis groans even as he feels Gladio hoisting him up and out of the car.

He doesn’t get his wish, of course. The slap of night air to the face is enough to startle him awake, though he clings to Gladio’s jacket with a small noise of protest as his eyes shoot open, kicking his feet more like a toddler than a twenty-year-old.

“Come now, Noct,” Ignis says, and he _hears_ the laughter in his voice. “This is unbecoming of a prince.”

“I’ll show you unbecoming,” Noctis grouches, and his husbands all chuckle good-naturedly, knowing there is no bite to his bark.

For the first time since they all dragged him out of their townhouse, Noctis finally stops to think.

“Where are we?”

He peers up at the star-bedazzled sky, inhaling the crisp winter air deeply into his lungs. Clearly, they are no longer in Insomnia.

When Gladio sets Noctis on his feet, he turns in a slow circle, eyes widening slightly.

“...Wow,” he breathes. The word forms a cloud of moisture that dissipates like smoke above his head.

“I know, right?” Prompto says excitedly. He’s busy setting up the tripod for his camera in the grass on the hill, the pom-pom on his beanie bouncing like a moogle’s antenna. It gives them more time to take in the picturesque scene of Insomnia in the distance, its multitude of lights serving as a shining beacon in the dark.

“What time is it, anyway?” Noctis isn’t sure why he whispers it. It just _feels_ right considering how quiet it is—respectful of the way the world is holding its breath.

“Don’t ask,” Gladio huffs. That means even _he_ thinks it’s late—or too damn early—and that’s saying something for someone who trains at the crack of dawn on the regular.

“I’ve been waiting for this!” Prompto protests. He, unlike the rest of them, has no qualms about being loud, and his words seem to echo into the dark expanse.

“Waiting for…?” Noctis looks between Ignis and Gladio as if searching for answers. They both shrug helplessly.

Finally, Prompto claps his hands together and dances over to where they’re standing, way too energetic for the time and temperature—did Noctis mention it was capital-C, trademark, _cold_?

“We haven’t take a good group photo in ages, so I got to thinking—” Noctis gapes at him in disbelief. “—I would wait until the weather was right—”

“ _Prompto_ ,” Noctis interjects. “This was all for a photo-op? _Seriously_?”

Even Ignis, Mr. Long Suffering himself, looks a little miffed, lips pursing.

“Wait, hear me out!” Prompto begs, holding his fingerless-gloved hands up. “Just lemme get this shot, you won’t regret it.”

“And what shot is that?” Gladio wonders. He crosses his arms over his chest.

For once, Gladio’s wearing a proper jacket and an honest-to-gods shirt, but he’s also the only one who doesn’t look annoyed, and Noctis can’t figure out for the life of him why not. If _he_ pulled this shit, Gladio would make sure he never hear the end of it.

Prompto begins by waving his arms above his head. “Just picture it! The four of us, Insomnia’s lights in the background, stars above our heads…I can be on Iggy’s shoulders, and you can be on Gladio’s shoulders, and the snow will fall on us while we all kiss. It’ll be _super_ romantic, dude.”

“Wait,” Noctis interrupts again. Prompto bites his lip, the hope that Noctis will buy into his crazy plan reflected in his eyes. It all sounds well and good, and maybe he _could_ get behind it if it weren’t for the fact that— “It’s not even snowing!”

It’s a funny thing to see a human being deflate much in the same way a balloon does, and Prompto does exactly that in response to Noctis’s accusation.

“I knoooow. All the forecasts said it would be though!” He pouts, glaring into the dark as if to bully the weather into cooperating.

Despite everything, it’s cute.

“Perhaps another time then?” Ignis pats Prompto’s shoulder as it slumps, dutifully reassuring as always.

Noctis still doesn’t understand why he had to be woken up for this, but it always sucks to see Prompto upset in any capacity, so he puts his personal feelings aside for the moment.

“I’m sure there will be other days.” To Noctis’s relief, Ignis and Gladio give him an approving look.

“Hey, we can still take a picture though. We’re already out here,” Gladio offers, and Ignis is quick to agree.

“Certainly.”

It’s not quite the same, and they know that, but Prompto smiles, managing to look a little less like a kicked-puppy than before.

“...Really?”

Gods, how can they say no when he sounds so hopeful? They _can’t_.

“For sure,” Noctis confirms.

Prompto’s shy, slow smile cuts into the cold Noctis feels.

“Thanks, guys.”

* * *

A few minutes later they are attempting to recreate Prompto’s vision. There’s some cursing and laughing along the way, but eventually, they all get into position—Prompto on Ignis’s shoulders, Noctis on Gladio’s—and Prompto sets the automatic timer on his camera via his phone.

“So, we’re kissing, right?” Noctis asks Prompto as Ignis and Gladio inch closer together. He squeezes his legs around Gladio’s head to keep his balance.

Prompto nods emphatically. “Yep!”

“How’s the view from up there?” Gladio drawls, earning an eye roll from Prompto.

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

 _It’s pretty great_ , Noctis thinks as he gazes out at the twinkling Insomnia skyline, but he jams his heel into Gladio’s ribs anyway—for short guy solidarity.

“How long is the timer?” Ignis wonders, gently focusing them back on the task at hand.

“Ten seconds. You’ll see a flashing light—” Prompto’s sudden gasp has Gladio jerking back, and Noctis windmills his arms to keep from falling, panic shooting through him.

“What?!” Noctis blurts, noticing that both Gladio and Ignis have summoned their weapons in the time it takes his heart to stop racing.

Prompto points to the sky. “Look!”

As Noctis tilts his head upwards, something light and wet pelts his face.

“Huh. Would you look at that,” Gladio chuckles, returning his broad sword to the armiger’s void. Ignis shortly follows suit. “Look like you got your snow after all.”

It’s a magical sight, the first snowfall of the season, and there’s something about experiencing it all together, just the four of them, that makes the impromptu roadtrip worth it.

Ignis says what they’re all thinking. “How beautiful.”

There’s a moment when they’re all staring at the white flurries that Noctis steals a glance at each of his husbands in turn, committing their looks of wonder to memory. It’s something he knows Prompto will capture in the photo he eventually takes, but just in case he doesn’t, he wouldn’t want to miss it.

Not for all the sleep in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written based on @CarrieVogel5's (Twitter) Secret Santa gift to me, which is embedded in this fic. <3
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter @HardNoctLife


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